


noctivigant · nomin

by jaeminlee



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Late at Night, M/M, NCT 2018, NCT 2019, OT21 (NCT), Planning Adventures, Road Trips, Stargazing, Wanderlust
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2020-10-25 21:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20731268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaeminlee/pseuds/jaeminlee
Summary: In which a severe homebody named Lee Jeno finds his noctivigant new neighbor, Na Jaemin in his balcony and breaking one of his precious potted succulent plant on one summer night."Nice succulents"... and the wanderous adventures, mischiefs and romance (?) started to be a game changer to Lee Jeno's summer.





	1. PROLOGUE

**Author's Note:**

> Notice to some readers here ♡
> 
> Hello! Thanks for stopping by my au its been a while and I'm thinking of making this a little bit shorter than my usual plan with this so this will be UNDERCONSTRUCTION as of the moment so it wouldnt be so hard for me to finish. Thank you!

**N** **OCTIVIGANT**

\ (ˈ)näk¦tivə̇gənt\

someone who likes to wander in the night

;

**LEE JENO**

severe home body  
isn't really a people person  
a resident softie  
has plants for friends  
aspires to be a botanist  
has three cats  
eyesmiles  
milk  
"plants are more human  
than humans"

_(cont. to discover more...)_

**NA JAEMIN**

noctivigant  
passion for adventures  
finds comfort at night  
clingy 24/7  
optimists  
insomniac  
uranophile  
coffee  
"who took the stars out of the sky and put them in your eyes?"

_(cont. to discov_ _er more)_


	2. Chapter 2

  
🍀

͙⁺˚*･༓☾ lee jeno's focus ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

**Loud** rustles from vehicles and indistinctive voices from a distant filled the room of a black haired male who was currently in deep slumber. He bury his face on the fluffy pillows and tried his best to go back into deep slumber. He just had a shut eye since he was up all night binge watching _Sky Castle, _he had occasional breakdowns here and there due to some dreadful scenes in the series but the whole story is a masterpiece, _worth it._

His routine every summer is starting and he can't wait to do _nothing _before he leaves for uni but the loud rustles kept holding him back from reaching his goal, making him groan in annoyance, he stuffs a pillow on his ear but that didn't help a bit. The noises was still hella audible making him jolt up from his laying position with the most sour face, bags evident under his droopy looking eyes as his hair strands messily tossled on the sides

_He just wants some sleep._

The male took his pair of glasses sitting under the lamp shade and took glance on the clock on his right _6:36 am._

_Great only 30 minutes of sleep._

He stood up from his bed and made his way to his window. He angrily opened the blinds to see series of trucks lined up on the house next door; workers carrying variety of furnitures and boxes inside the house.

_A new neighbor?_

It's been a while since that house had actual people living in it. A family once lived there but they had to move abroad after the grandmother passed away. Some rumors say that the house was inhabited by ghosts that's why the people were forced to move out.

But he wasn't the one who would easily believe in all those stuffㅡ_ that's complete bullshit._

The poor guy sighs not feeling sleepy anymore but his head was killing him nonetheless. He made way to the door, muttering a small "So much for a 30 minute nap" As soon as the raven hair stepped out of his sanctuary he felt his stomach rumbling, begging to have it stuffed with food.

He went downstairs to smell the faint aroma of bacon, eggs and _chocolate cakes. _His mom would always make the best breakfast and ofcourse her famous chocolate cakesㅡ but chocolate cakes early in the morning?

"Mom do I smell chocolate cakes?" The male asks as soon as he walk in the kitchen, his eyes searching for the said delicacy

"_Jeno_? You're unexpectedly early on a summer morning" A woman wearing an apron said as she took out the uncoated pastry from the oven, placing it on the dining table.

Jeno ignored the question by reaching for the medicine kit taking some advils for his headache and proceeds to the dining table. His mom placed the bacon and eggs and he starts digging in.

"I can't believe that we're going to have a new neighbor after so many years" Jeno's mom said with enthusiasm, the latter hums in response while munching his breakfast as he stares on a blank spaceㅡ his brain isn't really functioning right now because of sleep deprivation.

Jeno's mom sat infront of him, starting to coat the cake with her famous home-made chocolate pasteㅡ _his favorite_. It's like he's been resurrected from the dead upon seeing the scene unfold before him making his eyes sparkle as he subconsciously licks his lips.

"My favorite! Than-" He extends his hand on the bowl of chocolate paste only to be slapped back by his mother "Ouch! What was that for?" He whines rubbing his poor scrunny hand

"This not for you Jeno!" Mrs. Lee scolds, glaring at the now sulking Jeno.

"Then what's the cake for then? You barely make cakes in the morning" Jeno whines with a small pout on his lips

"It's for the new neighbor" She simply says and continues to coat the pastry.

Jeno should have seen this coming. Ofcourse she would bake a big ass chocolate cake for the new neighbor, he knows how his mom likes to give house warmings for new comersㅡ she's too good to be true.

"Let me guess, you want to make a good impression and perhaps convince a lady to join that lame club of yours" Jeno monotonously said to his mom who gasped in response

"Lee Jeno! I can't believe you would say such thing. For your information, its a mom's who love to bake club, how is that even lame! I already have Chenle, Eunsang and Minkyu's mom as my members so I need to have an expansion and all..." Jeno's mom exclaims not even planning to stop ranting about her mom-who-loves-to-bake club making the younger male sigh in frustration, because he knows all too well that his mom ain't gonna stop rambling anytime soon

_ugh i shouldn't have mention that stupid club_

And so he stood up from his seat "Okay mom, I get it!" He retorts and took a deep breath stopping himself from lashing on his motherㅡ he knows that she can be very emotional sometimes when things like that happen "Yes! you have a very cool club and I'm so proud that you still manage to be a club president at the same time be a full time mom to a handsome son. I'm done with my meal. Probably gonna stay there in my room till the end of summer doing nothing productive. I'm going upstairs bye!" He continues in a fast pace tone without missing a beat. He turn his back and was about to leave when...

"And where do you think you're going young man?" His mom said stopping him on his tracks

Jeno turns to meet his mom who's holding up the cake and immediately hands it to the younger male "Wha-"

"You give it to the neighbor, don't forget to smile m'kay?" His mom says while fixing the younger's black locks and proceeds to push him towards the front door "Now run along, I heard the neighbor has a cute son" She said mischievously and winks at the younger before closing the door, leaving a shocked Jeno standing on the front porch

It took Jeno a few minutes to process the whole scenario before reacting and moving back to the door trying to open the door knob with one hand and his other hand supporting the circular cake. Instead of opening the front door, he saw his mom on the window mouthing a 'fighting!' while doing two thumbs up to cheer him up.

"I can't believe I have a crackhead for a mother" He groans in annoyance and stomps his feet on the ground "Great just great! She really did me dirty, I mean if she wants to make an impression on the neighbors she should've delivered the cake by herself and what? The neighbor's son? What does she think of me? I'm gay but I have taste" He rants under his breath in the most annoyed expression making his way to the neighbor's porch, movers coming in and out of the front door making it hard for him to look inside for the owners.

He just want to go home and lock himself in his room and sleep and rest for the rest of his lifeㅡ _is that too much to ask? _

_His pillow_

_His blanket_

_His soft comfy be-_

"Hello! Can I help you- "

"Ah!"

Jeno felt as if his soul left his body as soon he was interrupted on his trail of thoughts he was startled to the core to the point that he lost his balance, it was all too fast and right there Jeno knew... he fucked up

"_Shit"_

↠

  
_Jeno __never felt so embarrassed in his entire life_.

He's currently seated on his neighbor's living room couch, his cheeks painted in light pink blush. He can't believe what just happened awhile ago, he just want to bury himself alive and never be seen again. He doesn't even know why he's still here after what happened earlier.

The vision of a splattered cake on the floor _and on a person's shirt_ came rushing on his mind. You guess it right folks, THE Lee Jeno accidentally trips the chocolate cake out of clumsiness on his new neighborㅡ_way to gain good impression._

He sighed at the unwieldy flashback that keeps replaying on his mind. He decided to clear out his mind by looking around the household, eyes scanning on the semi-furnish room; the couches , picture frames and lamp shades are engulfed by plastic wraps, the walls painted with nothing but white and loads of boxes placed on different sides of the house.

He's been in this house when he was a young boy, he could still remember how the walls were plastered with a vintage wall paper, the smell of lavander and fresh baked cookies fill the air and the place was always so warm and cozy whenever he and his mom would visit Mrs. Kim, the previous owner of the house for some cookbook reference for his mom's club. _He kinda miss the sweet lady nextdoor._

_But..._

_What am I still doing here? I should get out of here!_ A wave of realization hit him, he should be heading out before his neighbor comes back from changing his clothes. Jeno was about to get up from his seat when...

  
_"Oh make yourself at home"_

Jeno could feel his soul leaving his body as soon as he heard a person spoke enthusiastically behind his back. It was like a scene straight from a horror movie, in which the protagonist was suddenly jump-scared by a ghost out of nowhere but in his case it wasn't a ghost at all, it was a human, a human guy to be exact.

He jolt up on his feet not even bothering to face the person who spoke on his back "O-oh hi!" He stuttered nervously, raising a hand and waved it.

"Uhhm. Hi, I'm actually right h-" A hint of confusion and uncertainty was evident on the person's voice which Jeno was able to take the hint he then noticed that he wasn't facing his neighbor.

_Are you stupid Lee what are you trying to do? You clown!_

He immediately turns around to meet the sight of a tall male with brown messy locks but complimented his; sharp jaw, dark brown eyes and plump lips nonetheless. Jeno also notice his _untainted_ fresh set of clothings; a simple white hoodie and grey sweatpants embracing his built body frame.

"U-uh, yeah right... Im sorry about that" He laughs awkwardly making the latter male grin widely showing his perfect set of teeth.

"No need to be! Uh do you want to have some coffee or tea?" The guy asked as he stuffs both of his hands on his hoodie pocket

Jeno shook his head in before speaking "N-no thanks, but look I'm sorry about earlier I could get a little jumpy sometimes but I swear I didn't really mean to trip the cake on purpose"

The brown haired male waves his hands "No its okay, really. I really appreciate you bringing some house warmings but I must say the people here are pretty..." He paused for a moment and looks at the latter knowingly "...unique" He continues and  
Jeno swore that he saw his neighbor's eyes landed on his lips _or maybe he's just seeing things _"Guess its not a bad idea to move in afterall." The brown haired male said finishing his statement with a shrug

"Yeah the neighborhood here is really good actually" Jeno nods, not very sure what to say but he was lucky enough to come up with a response anyway

"Did you bake the cake earlier? I could tell that its a very delicious" asked Jeno's neighbor, tilting his head to the side

"No, my mom baked it she makes the best pastries in the neighborhood well, atleast thats what she said and i totally agree. She even has a mom who loves to bake club and its getting-"Jeno rambles out until he realized that he was talking too much "Sorry I'm talking too much" He continues and quickly apologized

"Its okay I like listening to you talk and I'm into cooking as well perhaps I could join the club get some baking tips and _some other things_" The latter simply says and shrugs

Jeno felt his cheeks heat up again after what the other male said. He clears his throat and muttered a small "Yeah"

After the small talk an odd comfortable silence filled the room with just him and his neighbor standing on each sides of the living room. Jeno had his eyes travelling all across the living room until his eyes landed on his neighbor's gaze both of them looking straight in the eyes through his glasses, none of them blinked and was suddenly lost in each other's eyes. It took them a good couple of seconds before Jeno blinked in realization causing his face to heat up for the nth time, breaking the contact.

_what's with all these heat on my face?_

"Oh would you look at the time" Jeno frantically said out loud looking at his wrist not even aware that he _doesn't have a wristwatch_ "I-I better get going I'm just gonna tell my mom to make another cake and send it off here later bye!..." Jeno says and rushly walk his way out the house not even bothering to let the latter male respond.

On the other hand, the brown haired male didn't quite process what just happened _"who's gon tell him?"_

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈


	3. Chapter 3

🍀

͙⁺˚*･༓☾ lee jeno's focus ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

  
**Later** that day Jeno stormed in his room after having a heated arguement with his mother about sending him off out of nowhere to stranger's houses it was a long ass ride for Jeno, he went up to his room because he was upset not to his mother but to himself, he should'nt have engage that fight with her since Jeno knows that she gets easily emotional when they argue. Things like,

_I blame myself for this..._

_I should have took good care of you when you were still a child..._

_Where did I go wrong?_

Were just few of her mother's wordsㅡ insert sobbings and sniffles here and there. It was annoying to be honest, he really hates it when he goes to arguements with his mother and be guilty when his mom cries afterwards and most especially, hates it when she uses it against him. It's just a hard phase for a softie like Lee Jeno.

It took him few minutes of sulking and scrolling through his social media before deciding to go back to sleepㅡ it's basically his summer bucket list afterall: _eat, sleep, and do nothing._

At around 9:00pm Jeno woke up with a slight headache. He slept for 12 hours straight but he felt refreshed nonetheless. Did all of that netflix marathon worth his time and braincells?

_Heck yes!_

It was satisfying to say the least but Jeno doesn't know what to do next...

He was laying flat on his bed, hands stretched out on the sides, he literally looks like a human star fish looking straight up to the ceiling, mind filling thoughts about the possible things he should do at this time around; Should he binge watch some Netflix series again? Watch some random videos? Play some games? or just stare at the plain blank walls and just... _stare_.

He was lost in his own thoughts, not until he felt something tickling his left cheek. He turn to his side and saw one of his cats, _Bongshik_ moving towards him and snuggling on his neck. It was a bit blurry for him since he doesn't have glasses on but he could tell that its his cat by how active the cat is at night (like his owner) since Bongshik likes to stay up during the night and sleep in at night.

  
Jeno chuckled and sat up from his laying position and cradle the feline on his firm arms, letting out a grunt after lifting his cat further on his chest "Wow, what has mom been feeding you?" The raven hair chimes and played with his cat's fur who purred in response to his touch. He enjoyed it though, he felt at peace for some reason. I guess, petting his cats is a must added to his bucket list.

But that didn't last long though, he was enjoying his moments in cat paradise when, a large crash rings on his room making Jeno flinch on his spot at the same Bongshik hopping off his hold and scurrying its way towards it's cat house. His breath hitched and his heart started jumping on his chest. He quickly reached out for his glasses, visions clearing afterwards, he scan his room but nothing fell on the ground nor did his room look like a total mess.

"Seol? Nal?" He calls for his two cats hoping that they were the ones who's causing the ruckus. However, as soon he averted his gaze to the small cat house at the edge of his room, he saw two of his cats sleeping soundly on the condos of their cat house.

_Then w_ _hat the fuck was that?_

Another clank rings but this time he was able to identify where it came from and its on the balcony area of his room. It immediately alarmed Jeno right away taking a few seconds to build up his courage making him stand up on his feet; The raven hair took a deep breath before taking the first thing that he could get a hold on his study table, _a freaking ruler? _

_Seriously, Jeno?_

Jeno shook off his nonesensical thoughts and decided to focus on the bigger picture. He started to slowly head towards the balcony door his _weapon_ wrapped around his hands.

"W-who goes there?" Jeno calls out trying his best not to sound so nervous but drastically failed

He slowly reached out for the velvety curtains that's covering the glass of his balcony door and quickly pulled it to the side and saw... _nothing. _He only sees the dark skies and his potted plants lining up on his balcony railings but something was wrong.

_Oh no!_

He reached and twist for the door knob, pushing the door wide open and was shock upon seeing a shadow of a crouching person on one of his succulents thats shamefully dropped on the floor.

_"Nice succulents" _

Jeno was shocked at the person who appeared infront of his balcony. The familiar brown locks and the same white hoodie came on sight.

_It's his new neighbor_. (?)

"What are you doing here!" Jeno exclaims with his eyes wide open upon seeing the person.

The intruder grins sheepishly while holding a pile of soil on his hands. "Surprise?"

Jeno's eyes went wide upon seeing the guy he met a few hours ago and quickly dismissed him as soon as he look towards his poor potted plant "Markle!" He exclaims and walk towards the greenery

The soil was all over the floor and the small rose cabbage succulent drastically taken off its roots on the bed of soil.

"You name your plants? How cute!" The brown hair coos at the latter noticing the small nametags plastered on the small pots.

Jeno ignores the other male's remark and sighs. He picks up a spare pot on the side and scoops the soil on his hands and carefully plants the succulent on top of it, putting it back to its proper spot. The feeling of annoyance bubbles on his chest as he lets out an exasperated sigh, he stood up from his crouching position "Look I don't know what's the reason why you came here but if you don't get the hell out of my house I swear I'll ca-"

The raven hair was cut off when he heard another crash of his potted plant drastically clattered on his balcony floor. "Yikes" the brown hair smiles sheepishly and did a small peace sign

Jeno looks at his neighbor in disbelief. "Look, I don't mean to be rude... but are you a creep or something? Why did you climb up my balcony like some burglar huh? I could've reported you to the authorities" He stops and gasp "Unless..." Jeno trails and immediately lifts up the ruler tight on his hold glaring at the intruder.

The intruder was quick to catch the idea and immediately shook his hands in response "Hey if you're thinking that I'm actually a burglar I swear I'm not" The brown haired male says reassuringly

The raven hair didn't seem convinced at all "Oh yeah? Then why did you climb up my balcony in the middle of the night huh?" He retorts still has the ruler on his hands.

"Well..." Jaemin starts with an embarrassed smile as he rubs the back of his neck "I just want to check something from up here..." he said stuffing his hands on his white hoodie looking away from the other male

"And that is?" Jeno asked with furrowed eyebrows trying to figure what the brown haired male is trying to imply

The white hooded male took awhile to response back a look of hesitation evident on his face _"Stars" _

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! there was a slight mistake on the published chapters but im glad that i have finally fixed the problem hope yall enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

  
🍀  
͙⁺˚*･༓☾ 3rd person's focus ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

** _"Stars"_ **

  
Jeno was slightly taken aback "Stars?" he asked slowly digesting on his brain what the latter male is trying to imply, trying to convince himself that the other male is just making things up to get away from trespassing on his house but by how the other male looks flustered at the situation made jeno a little convince that he is serious about it

"Stars?" Jeno asks slowly putting down the ruler on his hands

_That's a bit... different for an excuse _

"Yeah! I know it's a bit weird and you might think that I'm just saying things just so you would forget the whole climbing in your balcony thing but I was looking for some spots that's high enough to get a good view" The brown locks says with a shy smile.

Jeno raised an eyebrow, he admit that he was a _little _convinced, somehow an odd spark of interest at the same time curiosity made its way to his mind. But he wasn't gonna put his guard down ofcourse, that's a freaking stranger for heaven's sake he could be a psycho murderer!

Giving a suspicious look, the raven hair tighten his grip on the ruler he's holding "And what's in it on my balcony huh? You know I can call the authorities right now and file a complain of trespassing" he boldly says

Panicking, the brown locks' eyes widened at the sudden accusation "No! no! I'm really sorry for the intrusion and for knocking your plants off. I just wanna see the sky up here. I swear." he rambles out almost like a child trying to convince his mother that he didn't do something bad.

In all honesty, he doesn't know where he got all that courage to sass up on his new neighbor, usually he'd be intimidated and just let the person get away with it but it came off naturally which was a new feeling that he wants to pat himself for the sudden bravery, but there's a side of him that believes the guy is telling the truth.

The latter male immediately shakes his hands in the air"I-I no I don't mean to knock your plants off I'm sorry please don't call throw me in jail for this!" he pleads

Feeling a little guilty, Jeno could tell that he's being sincere right now he just can't stand seeing people being on this state "It's okay" he says with a sigh immediately making the latter male look at him in relief

"Really?" his neighbor replies

Jeno nods "Yeah, I was just carried away from the sudden crash and all"

The brown locks sighs in relief and let out a wide smile, running towards the latter male hugging him tightly "That's a relief, thanks for believing me and not throwing me in jail" he says placing his chin on the raven hair's shoulder

To say that the Jeno was shock was an understatement he was expecting a response but not like... _this_. He doesn't know what to do nor to say he just stood there frozen which took the brown hair a few seconds to detach himself from the latter male.

"You're warm" The brown hair bluntly says

Heat made its way on Jeno's cheeks and looks away from the guy on his front, he clears his throat "Anyways..." he starts off recovering himself from his flustered situation "So what's the real deal with the stars?" he says still not looking towards the other male

The brown hair was taken aback from the sudden question but was relief at the same time because the latter was convince "Well... I'm nocturnal" He starts the raven hair averted his gaze towards him catching his interest "And I like roaming around places, it's like a mini adventure and shit. I usually drive when I want to go on far places but the best part are the stars... It's nothing deep though, when I go out I have the habit to do stargazing everynight, its like the stars are there with me in my adventures... well except when the weather isn't nice but i still go outside even when it's raining" the hooded male tells as his eyes fixed up on on the sky, he let out a sigh "and also... they hold a special memory to me" he finishes off with a small smile on his lips

Jeno his eyes and nods "Wow really? That's cool!" Jeno exclaims in awe

The brown locks looks at the latter with a wide smile, he couldn't help but smile at the fact that they were starting a conversation. He leans on the wall, hands stuff on his hoodie "You're nocturnal too?"

Jeno nods "Yeah, but I don't do much though, I only stay up and do nothing but binge watch on Netflix and sneak on my kitchen to get some snacks" he says with a shrug

"That's a productive way to start your summer" The latter chuckles with a little sarcasm

"You can say that, I'm not really fond of going outside, I hate the sun and sweating but mostly the sun" Jeno says

"Well same, that's why I prefer night time" The brown hair says "Speaking of stars..." he trails and fished something from his hoodie pocket _a mini telescope _

"Woah so you weren't joking when you said you're checking on stars" Jeno says in awe as he eyes the golden mini telescope on the latters hand

"But I can check you out if you want" The brown locks teases wiggling his eyebrows

Jeno almost choke on his spit but clears his throat anyway "Anyways... where'd you get it?" he asks dodging the latter's cheesy remark

"It's from... a friend" The brown locks smiles and pulls to extend the tube on his hands "I'm gonna show you something" The brown hair says, the latter male complies and made his way to the other male, he placed it on his left eye moving it towards the east, like he's looking for something up the sky.

It took a few seconds for the hooded male to search what he was looking for and stops, a smile making way on his lips.

He removed the telescope on his eye and gave it to the male on his side "Here, tell me which star is the brightest one"

Jeno nods and took the mini telescope from the latter's hand and aligns it on his left eye, a near sight of scattered stars lay before his eyes. "Woah, I never seen stars this close before" Jeno says in awe and moving slowly towards the east complying to the latter's request.

Jeno stops as soon as he came on sight with a bright star illuminating on the sky, not like the other stars aren't bright but it was the brightest star among the rest. "I think I found it" Jeno chimes and looks over the brown haired male who's looking up the sky and smiling, eyes twinkling at the same time.

"It's beautiful" Jeno says his eyes turning into crescents. He wonders why the brown hair was eagerly looking for it, it's just a star afterall.

"Yeah I know" Jaemin beams agreeing to the latter male and let out a sigh "I came looking for it on my house but I can't seem to find it and when I went to search for it, I reached your house, it was odd though but it was here all along so I climbed up your balcony and accidentally knock off your plants" The brown locks says with a frown

"It's okay" Jeno said with a small smile

A few seconds the atmosphere was filled with an odd comfortable silence. It was weird to say the least for Jeno since he's always a victim of awkward silence in conversations but with his new neighbor he felt comfortable for some unknown reason but the comforting silence was long gone when Jeno decided to break it

"Hey can I ask you a question?" he asks handing the mini telescope to the other male

"You're already asking so hit me up" the latter says with a nod

"Uhm, I know it's nosy of me to ask but what's so special about those stars?" he asks with his head slightly tilted on the side

The other male stops momentarily before speaking again "Not until you tell me your name cake boy" The neighbor trails with a mischievous smile on his lips

The raven hair was slightly taken aback by the nickname but what got him the most was the sudden realization that they weren't able to introduced each other's names earlier "It's Jeno, Lee Jeno"

The latter male grins widely and nods"Hi, Jeno the name's Jaemin, Na Jaemin"

Jeno smiles guessing that he made a new friend "Cool" he simply says

Jaemin removes himself from the wall and stood firm on his feet, letting out a sigh "Well this is a wild way to gain a friend" he chuckles tilting the heels of his feet on the side, a habit of his. 

"Yeah, from an alleged burglar to my new friend that's also a wild way to make an impression Na Jaemin" Jeno teases back

"New friend?" Jaemin raised his eyebrows with a little smirk on his lips repeating the latter's words, almost sounding like a question but more of a request for validation.

"O-oh then so it was, I-" Jeno stutters out not knowing what to say but eventually clears his throat "Uhm... Y-yeah you can say that"

Jaemin grins widely, it wasn't his usual friendly smile, his eyes crinkling on the side and his perfect set of teeth are in full display it was a genuine smile which made the latter male smile as well like he caught a smile virus "Okay... Friends" Jaemin says

_Friends..._

"Now that we're friends... now can you tell me what's the stars are about?" Jeno asks curiosity pushing his buttons

The latter male grins "Do you wanna go out for a drive?" He said disregarding the latter's question

"Hey! I asked first!" Jeno retorts furrowing his eyebrows

"I'm stopping by a drive through when I'm at it..."

"Okay let's go then..."

_Little did Jeno know that his summer wasn't gonna be the way _he wants it to be...

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello! this is rie and first of all I would like to apologize for the long delay of chapters because I've been really busy with uni and I tend to have writers block most of the times but yes I will continue this story don't worry I have a lot of plans in store for this uwu. Anyways I hope y'all would like the update!

  
🍀

  
͙⁺˚*･༓☾ 3rd person's focus ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Jeno didn't know what got into him, he's pretty sure that what he expected to happen tonight was him laying in his bed and stay like that for the rest of summer but now is really a sight to see that even himself couldn't believe it, not even his cats would believe the scene right in front of them. It's all too fast yet too tempting for the raven haired male whatever forced mad ehim to impulsively agree with his new neighbor's offer was sure doing his job right, even more so paid at a higher wage. 

"This one or this one?" Jeno asked for the nth time as he lifts a two shirt in the air; one with a shirt with a minimal design on the center and one with an 'Pet lovers with allergies club' sweatshirt. On the other hand, Jaemin who looks like he was ready to throw Jeno's cat on his lap straight up to his face groans in frustration following a finger pointed at the shirt with a minimal design.

"Really? but it's going to be chilly outside when we get there so I'm just gonna have this instead" The raven hair mumbles as he shifted his eyes to the sweatshirt, earning a frustrated groan from the latter male "Look, do you really have to change your clothes? Were kinda running out of time y'know" He whines kicking his feet in the air like a child

Jeno who looks like he was shock at what the other male had said "Excuse me, I don't want to go outside wearing my pyjamas Jaemin" Jeno retorts, rolling his eyes as he lands both of his hands on the hem of his shirt but stopped at the sudden realization that there is someone other than him in the room "Uhm... Can you look away please?" Jeno chuckles awkwardly, fiddling the hem of the shirt he's holding 

Jaemin looks at him in disbelief "Seriously? Ugh, just... hurry up okay?" he groans and turns around facing the plain white walls with Bongshik comfortably sitting on his lap, he doesn't even know why the he and the cat got along pretty fast since he's more of a dog lover but all he knows that as soon as the raven hair decided to let him in his room the cat came purring at his way as soon as he got his butt on Jeno's bed. Series of shuffling coming from the raven locks was heard indicating that he is indeed changing his clothes on so he had no choice but to sit there with Bongshik on his lap, left hand caressing the cat's fur and the other hand on his phone. 

"I'm done!" Jeno announces and Jaemin turns, eyes landing on the latter male who's wearing the white shirt he chose earlier, it was topped with a red flannel, paired with black skinny jeans embracing his slim legs and some white sneakers. "Thought you were wearing that club sweatshirt of yours" Jaemin raises an eyebrow at the male's direction and stood up from his sitting position with Bongshik on his arms.

"I figured that it was kinda unlike for at the moment since I can't take my cats around but how do I look?" Jeno says nudging the other male on the side, wiggling his eyebrows. Jaemin raised an eyebrow at the latter's sudden cockiness, placing hand on his chin "Hmm... Let me see" He starts scanning his eyes on the latter's clothing "You look kinda overdress in my opinion, but you look cute in pyjamas though its so like you, a little sleep deprived and... unproductive on the side but it's fine for the adventures I guess" He suggests with a shrug

"Are you lowkey telling me that my clothes looks shabby Jaemin?" Jeno gasps having mix emotions right now. He doesn't know if he should be offended by his new friend's opinion on his choice of clothing or be flustered by the fact that he called him 'cute'. Jeno would be lying if he says it's not more on the second one since his face was literally burning right now, but he's not gonna tell of course.

"Look, facts are facts Jenjen you got to take criticisms sometimes" Jaemin while the latter male feel his cheeks warming up even more with the nickname. Jeno scoffs and mumbled "Who are you? Bretman Rock?" 

Jaemin chuckles at how the othe male is acting right now "You're even cuter when you look upset Jeno and Bretman Rock is a beauty influencer, bitch" Jaemin comments stressing the word 'bitch' to sound more like Bretman. 

The scene was too bizarre for both males; for a second there, it was as if they haven't met hours ago and got themselves on the most embarrassing situations. Jeno was not the one to get easily comfortable with anyone he barely even had friends other than his cousin from Canada but with Jaemin he was oddly comfortable, maybe it was the way the brown locks radiates some sort of energy Jeno doesn't know how to point out or how they start off in the most unfortunate events or maybe because he's just... Jaemin. Jeno doesn't even know what to say to be honest but all he know is he can feel his cheeks getting warmer from the continuous flattery he's getting. It's a good thing that Jaemin has his ways to not make things awkward for them . "Okay! Come on now we don't have all the time in the world let's get some cheeseburgers" Jaemin beams in excitement as grabbed the raven lock's hand like a kid who's ready to go on a candy store.

"Wait!" Jeno stops, pulling Jaemin's hand, stopping him on his tracks 

-

The strong scent of paint and wood fills the raven hair's nosetrils and mouth agape in his neighbor's garage, a breathy "Woah" left his lips at the sight of the red cabriolet parked in his neighbor's garage, it looks like the car was snatched out of a mean girls movie. If anything, this car would cost a fortune which means Jaemin is filthy rich and... handsome. At some point he felt excitement pools the pit of his stomach as he wait for the latter to comeback with the car keys eyeing the fancy vehicle. He just cant wait to get a ride, He's currently waiting for the brown locks to come back from getting the car keys.

The situation felt surreal to say the least pretty much contrasting with his pyjamas, hoodie and pair of fluffy cat slippers. Since, Jaemin decided to change his clothes back on his pyjamas since he's a too 'overdress' for the occasion. After the two male's agreement and Jeno's impulsive decision made them both sneak out of the house, literally tiptoeing their way out like burglars in the middle of the night, pretty much afraid to wake Mrs. Lee up. Jaemin even convinced him to use the balcony but Jeno doesn't want any limbs nor pots broken on his watch. It's a good thing the raven head's mom is a heavy sleeper and both got away with it without a sweat. He should be in bed right now doing his bucket list for summer not in some sort of rendezvous with a guy he just met hours ago.

But who is he kidding? He'd always want to be in a road trip but never got a chance to experience one. He tried driving his mom's car once but never got a chance to drive again when he almost crashed the neighbor's house, basically ruining their lawn. Infact, Jeno love cars he would sketch cars for a hobby but after that accident he stopped and sticks to plant nursing instead.

"I got the keys to the car" Jaemin announces while twirling the car keys on his finger, a huge smile plastered on his face as he eyes the awestrucked male.

"Wow you weren't lying when you said we're going on a roadtrip" Jeno breathes out the breath he doesn't know was holding as he touched the glossy classic red car on his front.

Jaemin chuckles at the raven hair with a shrug "Well, what can I say? I'm a man of my words, cake boy" he remarks cockily as he opens the car door and sat on the driver's seat

Jeno shot Jaemin a look as forms his lips in a straight line, giving "Stop calling me that" he deadpans and entered the car as well

Jeno looks around the car still in awe at the interior of the car "I never rode a car this... fancy" Jeno was bewildered at the scene in awe travelling his eyes all over the place.

"You like it? It's my mom's car. She barely uses it though so I put it into use" Jaemin says fixing the mirror of the car.

"Really? Are your parents home?" Jeno asks as he sat down the shotgun seat.

"Wish they were" The brown locks responded with a bitter chuckle escaping his lips as soon as he started the engine with some indie music Jeno would passed by shuffle on his spotify played on the stereo with it.

"Oh" Jeno utters quietly, sudden guilt bubbles up on the pit of the raven hair's stomach, the awkward silence slowly fumes up inside the car. He just want to punch himself for the wrong choice of words.

_Way to go Lee now you look like a complete asshole_.

The air was thick of awkwardness with a huge weight on Jeno's chest with Jaemin silently pulling the car off the garage without a word. Both males felt ultimately uncomfortable with the heavy atmosphere; the only sound between them are the faint sound of the car engine and the music on the stereo, the only thing that's keeping them both sane. It's been like that for a couple of minutes until Jaemin decided to break the silence.

"Do you know that humans are made of stardust?" Jaemin stars between the dreadful silence, not a hint of bitterness on his words as he kept his eyes straight on his path, as driving in an average pace.

"Huh?" The raven hair's eyes travels towards the latter with a questioning look not sure if he heard the latter quite well.

"I just stated a trivial fact you nerd" Jaemin implies in sarcasm, rolling his eyes at the latter's response.

Jeno forms an 'o' on his lips with series of nods following "Oh, I see"

Jaemin chuckles at how the raven hair responded "Yeah, In fact, Stars and humans are made of the same kind of atoms and elements. They're like humans but on other parts of the galaxy but you know what makes them special? How they light up the world. It seems a little bit cliche but every star has its own shine it may not be the same as the others but that's why we tend to find them on the night to clearly know how bright is one star from the other" he states as he kept his eyes on the road

Jeno nods, never really thought that he could see this side of Jaemin, it seems like he wasn't really all adventures and stuff but he's actually really smart "Woah, so that explains why you like stargazing so much" 

"Yeah, you can say that ever I was a kid, its like the stars are my friends, the make me feel at eased at some point" Jaemin implies with a shrug

Jeno nods and a few moments later a grumbling sound resonates the carpool "Damn I'm starving, where do you wanna eat?" Jaemin asked rubbing his stomach with his left hand. 

"I'm fine with anything" the raven hair suggests

"Hmmm" Jaemin puts a hand on his chin as if he was thinking of something. "Okay, I'm going for McDonalds" Jaemin announce clicking some sort of button on the control boards of the car, the roof slowly maneuvering open making Jeno's eyes widen as the clear night sky slowly exposes itself, tiny white specs littered the night sky and the cool breeze started hitting their faces as their hair dances with the breeze. It felt refreshing to say the least, Jeno never felt this free. So, he slowly closes his eyes and lifted his hands up in the air. Jaemin seemed to notice it, feeling the same adrenaline rushed in his veins so , he slowly sped up the car as the faint sound of the indie music slowly volumes up. The stars leading them to the unknown.

ㅡ

The sound of paper bags shuffling and occasional beverage slurpings filled the car with a random ballad song on the radio joining in like a mantra.

"I cant believe she gave me a regular sprite when I asked for a large" scowls the brown locks who is angrily munch on a piece of chicken nugget

"Well she gave me plain ol' regular fries instead of the curly ones I ask for but you didn't see me complain about it now didnt you?" The raven hair scoffs throwing four fries at once on his mouth

"But I dont like smaller cups" Jaemin whines like a child as he kicks out of nothing. Honestly, Jeno kinda likes this side of his new found friend if anything the latter is a very unique guy, never fails to surprise him with his different sides. He might've just met Jaemin a few hours ago but he feels like they already knew each other for a long time. Jaemin gives off some sort of energy he couldn't quite tell, maybe that's the reason why he was so easily drawn to him.

Jeno laughs at the sulking male and takes his large coke on the cup holder "Here, you can take mine" Jeno offers handing the beverage towards the latter as he smudge a french fry on his sundae on his other hand.

Jaemin's eyes widened, gasping dramatically placing a hand on his chest "Aw, for me? You shouldn't have... but if you insist" he coos his eyes sparkling at the sight of the drink and took big a sip, a big sigh of relief escaping afterwards.

They're currently on an empty parking lot a few blocks away from McDonalds, eating their take outs and watching cars pass by with some random music plays on the radio. They both ate in silence and just enjoying each other's presence.

It went out pretty well so far aside from their mini trip to McDonalds Jeno was able to get some facts about Jaemin when they had small chitchats along the way; like how Jaemin likes his snacks and meal taste alot more 'extra' and how he loves the movie 'Secret Life of Pets' and would depicts himself to the character 'snowball'. It was really fun for the raven hair to listen to the latter's stories; it fascinates him even more at how contrasting they were since Jeno doesn't really have much to tell. Surprisingly, it didn't bother him a bit he's always used of being a listener anyway.

"This is nice" Jeno mumbles his eyes forming creseants as he smiles taking a glance at the male on his side who was doing the same

"Yes it is, this is why I love going out" Jaemin breathes out sounding like he was in sanctuary a feeling of relief on his chest.

"I never thought the night outside could be this good" The raven hair sighs in awe, devouring the soft serve in a cup the sweet and cool sensation lingers on his tongue.

Jaemin shot him a knowing look raising his eyebrows "Already having fun I see" teases

Jeno rolls his eyes threw him a french fry in which fell drastically on the car floor making Jaemin gasp but was quick enough to pick it up and threw it in his mouth

Jeno grimaces at the brown locks who is already munching on the dirty fry "Ew, that's disgusting"

Jaemin scoffs at the latter "Why I am offended Mr. Lee. I can't believe that you dont even know the rule Jeno..." Jaemin with his hands folded an eyebrow raised giving him the look.

"What rule?"

The brown locks rolled his eyes "The five second rule" he evidently implies like its the most obvious thing in the world

Jeno snorts at how childish the latter is right now, a giggle escaping his lips "Really Jaemin? You're like what, 18? 19-"

"20" Jaemin corrects in between the raven hair's sentence

"Okay then, 20" Jeno rolls his eyes and continues "But bottom line, aren't you a little old to still believe in those stuff? Basically, we all know that 60% of the earth's bacteria is found on the ground, 20% on air, 15% on water and 5% other foreign objects" Jeno rambles without a stop. A little habit of

The brown locks gasped his as he dramatically clutches his stomach "Oh no, you're right!" he says aloud his face full of worry

Jeno nods "Damn, right I am"

A distorted expression forms on the other"Yes! I should get the french fry out of my stomach right away before it contaminates my whole system" he dramatically implies, making gagging sounds as he playfully tossed his arms all around the place looking like a rabid zombie.

Jeno rolled his eyes and laughs at the latter's silliness, Jaemin joins him hearty laugh as well "You're such a drama queen" he snickers

"And you're the biggest nerd" Jaemin replies back both of them laughing at their own take backs

"I didn't say anything about you being a total geek in astronomy" Jeno states at the latter as he raises an eyebrow.

"Hold that thought..." Jaemin pauses for as he munched on french fry as he maneuvers his face near Jeno's looking straight at him in the eye "Has your eyes been looking like dark black holes lately? but that’s alright because I like astronomy.” Jaemin slyly says with a wink and a dab 

Jeno never had the urge to cringe his eyes his entire life until now but he doesn't know why he started laughing at the latter's pick up line maybe because of the amount of second hand embarrassment he received "You're weird, Jaemin..." Jeno abrupts out of nowhere he shakes his head laughing earning a look from the latter male in which the raven hair was quick to notice"...well in a good way" Jeno continues with a sincere smile

An unrefined feeling spark on Jaemin's chest as soon as he hear those words from the latter making his smile grew wider "Thank you for indirectly saying that I'm one of a kind Jeno" he beams with a wink, Jeno nodding in response.

After last few sentences, a comfortable silence envelopes the both males accompanied by a melancholic indie music filling which they would occasionally sing along to and would talk randomest things as they finish up eating their take outs. They're just enjoying each other's presence as occasional cars pass by. It was all to perfect until Jeno decides to insert "Guess we better get home now" he said checking his wristwatch

The brown locks raised an eyebrow towards him "What? You already wanna go home at this time of hour?" he exclaims

"Uh its almost twelve o' cock so yeah" Jeno implies like it's the most obvious thing ever with a shrug

With a mischievous smirk, Jaemin started the car engine "The night is still young cake boy we're just getting started" says with a chuckle

"What do you mean?" The raven hair questions in confusion

"You'll see" Jaemin winks and pulls out the car from parking space.

Jaemin drove off with an average speed. Jeno was clueless as to where the latter male is taking him but for some reason Jeno grew some sort of comfort and safety with Jaemin. As odd as that sounds being the guy he just met its like he knew the brown locks for a very long time now he just find the brown locks very comforting.

But whilst the cheeky personality and his passion for adventures he still remains a mystery for the raven haired male. Jeno doesn't know why but being with Jaemin makes him want to know him more than just the guy who snuck into his house just to break his succulent plants and took him in for a rendezvous. He wants to dive right in and uncover the mystery of him. And it starts now, in a red cabriolet driving to the unknown.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈


End file.
